FO to report!

The FO (finished object) I have to report is the baby afghan I was working on.  At work, we refer to the folks who work in our immediate area as our office family (let's face it, the people you work with are like family, at least you see them more than your own family.  The shower was for a new office family member and on Saturday, was the shower for her and her partner.  The ladies received a lot of really nice things for the baby and more importantly, to me at least, I think they both liked my afghan.

While I hate working against a deadline (did I forget to mention that the afghan was finished with a day to spare, not bad eh?!?), I have two more projects with a deadline. The first is a hat for guy at work who is leaving at the end of June (such is academia). The next project is for my cousin who has commissioned me to make an afghan for his daughter who is moving away from home. The afghan will have an intarsia center, using a picture of their dog who is similar in appearance to Zeus pictured here. Surrounding the center will be a double crochet border.

Well need to get cracking on the hat so bye for now!

Dog Sitting & Knitting

House/Dog sitting for friends who are on vacation in Hawaii.  I only brought one project, the Lace Sampler Blanket from 60 Quick Baby Knits.  The reason for one project is that its for a baby shower at the end of the month.

Did some calculations on the number of rows in the project and I need to complete 74.25 per week, ending on Saturdays, because lets face it, you know I'll be probably be working on this up till the very start of the shower. Here is my progress so far.

Have 4 repeats done which puts me behind for Week 2 by 40.07 rows.  Should be able to make significant headway on this as I have today off and working on the blanket and listening to podcasts.  I'm currently 2 episodes behind on KnitCents, all caught up on Cast On and I'm now listening to the Knitmore Girls.  This one will take a while to get caught up on as I'm just starting to listen to it and currently on Episode 30 out of 149.

Going to go grab my shawl (think I'm coming down with a cold), a little more to drink, and settle back in for more knitting.  Here are some pictures of the dogs and kids (I don't have to take care of the outdoor critters but its fun to check them out).

Thumbless Mitten: Part 2 and Steel Hooks

Back on September 22, I posted about my thumbless mittens. Well today, I don't have a thumbless mitten but it soon will be! Was walking to my car after work and I always keep my thumb wrapped around the strap of my bag. Today I felt more bag and less mitten with my thumb.

The thumb is at the top of my to do list AFTER I liberate my size 6 lace needle from the cowl that has been patiently waiting to be bound off with beads. The size 6 is one of the needle sizes recommended for lace knitting class I'm taking tomorrow night (I know, I know how long have I known about the class??).  Last night went looking for a small steel crochet to get the beads onto the knitting but alas all of mine have gone on walkabout.

I'm trying to keep my money local by purchasing items from local businesses when possible and avoiding box stores. I called around to knitting shops I could make it to before they closed, but unfortunately they didn't have any small enough hooks.  Called Hobby Lobby and yes they had it but as I was hanging up with them, I recalled Wisconsin Craft Market. For those not familiar with Madison area, WCM is a locally owned craft store. Not only did I find the steel hook, also found the same yarn the mitten is made out of (yarn was included in class and don't remember if there was any left and if there was, where I stashed it), blocking mats and two pattern books PLUS if you check out their website they usually have a coupon.  Today's coupon was 25% everything excluding orange tagged items (which the yarn was), not bad, huh?

The first book was Perfectly Plus: featuring the knit-to-fit workbook for the full-figured woman and the other was Plus Size Fashions. While I know there is more to me, I really wish folks wouldn't single out one demographic based on their size. Do you see any books entitled Fashions for Anorexics and Waifs? How about a title of Fashions for Real Women? This would be more statistically accurate, at least in the U.S.

Day Seven: Your knitting and crochet time

Today is the last day of the daily blogging and having daily topics has been very helpful.  My hat is off to those who do this on a daily basis as I found it challenging to get things in every day.    If I were to do this on my own, chances are very strong that I would loose my one follower.

Knitting time is divided into three distinct times.  At home, at work and at a knit shop.  When I am knitting at home, it is usually for a couple of hours on the weekend and would like to do a couple of hours during the week but there is usually something else I'm trying to get done or going to.

To give you an idea of my environment, look at the pictures from last Saturday and Day 3.  There is the work basket at the foot of the daybed.  Next to that is my chair.  The chair was purchased at Good Will and it looks like the type of chair you would have found as a visitor chair in an office about 20 years ago.  Nothing glamorous and I really need to made a cushion for it but knowing me, if it was cushy like a chair you would expect to find in someones living room, I would probably fall asleep and no knitting would get done.

In front of the chair is a TV tray that has an Ott light and usually my iPad which contains patterns and current books I'm listening to while I knit.  There is a TV/DVD in the room and I occasionally watch movies but if I watch a movie, my attention falters as I get into the movie and not my knitting.  Listening to books or podcasts enables my mind to form the pictures of the surroundings and watch my knitting.

At work, I knit during lunch.  Monday through Thursday, how much knitting I get done during lunch depends on whether or not I eat at my desk or go to the cafeteria, whether or not I brought a lunch or have to get something from the cafeteria and if I eat lunch at my desk how many times people walk up and ask questions (even though they can clearly see you are at lunch).  I'm trying to get away from my desk more for lunch and if I do stay at my desk, have resolved not to answer the phone.

Friday is the big knitting day at work as I take an hour and I get together with other knitters I met at Guild (Hi Erica and Mary).  Due to the longer lunch on Friday, I'm able to get in a solid 30 minutes of knitting time which makes up for the other four days.

Last there is the knit shop knitting.  I'm trying to go to one shop on Tuesdays and the other on Wednesdays but sadly enough, it seems like there is always something going on that makes this difficult to do on a weekly basis.  When I'm at either one, there is a fair amount of knitting that I get done, and perhaps some stash enhancement, but this will need to be curtailed if I ever want to save money and not have a room that is so well insulated with wool, that I'm roasting in the winter.

Day Six: Something to aspire to

Sorry was so busy getting things done yesterday that I forgot to blog.  Made a deal with myself that if I made my card for the shoebox swap had with my Mom, Aunt and cousins, posted the printer I would like to sell on Craigslist and posted the remainder of the yarn that I took photos of earlier in the week on Ravelry, I could go to Lakeside Fibers.  

LF is the first yarn shop I started going to when I learned how to knit.  Over the years it has changed appearance and ownership, but it is still a cool yarn shop.  Yesterday they had a book signing for Sheryl Theis' new book Get Hooked on Tunisian Crochet.  Tunisian crochet, also known as afghan crochet, is a cross between crochet and knitting.  Previously I have made a rug and mat though the mat has a "few" ends to be woven in and is on my short to do list as a project to complete this year. 

A year or so ago in a fit of organizing and downsizing, I gave to charity all of my Tunisian hooks and books so now I'm going to start all over with the supplies.  Part of me is sad about this because of spending money on things I had in the past.  But a bigger part of me is happy because there are now some really yummy looking hooks and the books now have things like hats, bags, sweaters, shawls, and oh yeah afghans and mats, but definitely much different than 15 years ago when I made my two projects.  So this is definitely something that I will give a whirl this year.  

Something else I would like to learn in the next year would be darning.  I currently have four pairs of socks and two of them are awaiting darning and a third is close to needing a little TLC.  There are techniques a plenty that I would like to learn but darning would be darn useful to know :)

Day Five: And now for something completely different!

Day Four: Where are they now?

This was the topic I seriously considered using the wild card on but will give it a try.  Have no particular projects to mention but rather what my family has done with the knitted offerings they have received over the years.

Let's start with my Dad. Dad does not do sweaters, mittens, handknit socks, scarves. the only thing I can make for him that he would wear are hats. He likes the hats I wear but he says it has to be super cold as they are so much warmer than a store bought hat. Maybe the adage about handknits are made with love and keep you warmer is true (but seeing as how is bald and I try to use really soft yarns not sure if I am buying the too warm story).

Mom, Mom pretty much loves anything I knit for her.  I have knitted her a hat which she loves (though it could be a tad bit longer, so much for making to the directions and not having the wearer try it on).  Last fall she gave me a request for purple socks which was great but rather disappointing as I had picked up some really cool red, white and blue yarn at the WI Sheep & Wool Festival a few days before.  But I made up for it, even though she doesn't know it and found a really cool purple sock yarn.  She luvs the knit socks in the winter, especially this winter as her feet have been colder, so I plan on giving her at least one pair for her birthday - good thing it is not until July.  She is also patiently waiting for a pair of double knit mittens that were started about 3-4 Christmas's ago and I really should get done this summer and give to her when we go on our 2011 fall crafting retreat.

Then there is my older brother Mike.  Mike is a wonderful guy to have come along with you when you are shopping for things as he really likes to shop and unlike our other brother, he can actually render excellent advice about why to use one item over another and color choices.  Case in point, Mike helped me pick out the yarn for my first cardigan (pink and black) which turned out very nicely for a first sweater.  When I lived with baby brother, I once made the mistake to ask him if what I was wearing looked ok/matched and lets just say lesson learned.  Mike has been patiently waiting for a vest and a cardigan for... well lets not talk about how long.  The yarn for the cardigan, I think its the cardigan but it could be the vest, is finally in the yarn basket.  I am going on the record here that I WILL HAVE the garment done for Christmas 2011 (please nudge me every once in a while to see how its coming along). Mike also loves handknit socks but they are not so fun to knit for him as he likes them really long aka knee high.  Though I did buy the kilt hose book with the express thought of knitting him a pair...

Now to my baby brother, Donny.  Excluding the socks I have given Donny, anything I given or his family, I have no idea what they've done with things or if it was given away.  With the socks, per his wife Michelle, Donny takes meticulous care of them and makes sure to lay them out flat to dry.  They have been gifted with various items i.e. scarves, sweater, shawl and there has never been a sighting on my part.  Oh well I will continue to make them things as that is what I prefer to give and if they don't like it then maybe they should put in a request so I make something they do want/would like.

Day Three: Tidy Mind, tidy stitches

This blog started as a method for me to be "honest" about my WIP, UFO, wishlist etc.  Don't think I have achieved any of these quite yet as I know there are UFOs and WIPs that are not on the sidebar.  But let me share what I do in terms of attempting to be organized.

First there is Ravelry (if you want to look me up, my user name is Knitasnoopy).  On Ravelry, I am attempting to keep my yarn stash and library up-to-date.  As I find patterns that I like, I add tags so they can, hopefully, be found easily.  Keeping the projects up-to-date is a current weakness but I believe my notebook (will talk about this in a bit) should be able to assist me if I ever get my act together and log projects on Ravelry.

Besides Ravelry, I keep a notebook that travels with the current project I'm working on (no Rosie is not always my book stand).  It is not too big and contains everything I need to know about the current project I'm working on i.e. pattern, yarn label & sample, needles used, notes about the project.  In the back of it I am also keeping business cards for various yarn shops that I stop at during my travels.

Next I have my knitting area in my bedroom.  In this cozy little space, I have a large work basket that was purchased last fall when we went up for the crafting weekend.  In it I keep UFOs, some yarn that I would like to start knitting on soon and the extra balls of yarn for projects I'm actively working on.  It is amazing how much this can hold and how much more room there is after you complete an afghan!

Didn't take a photo of the yarn stash as it can be seen in the photo from Saturday, when I reorganized the yarn stash and readjusted the books in my library as things were getting a bit tight.  My Dad made the awesome bookshelf that houses the majority of my library.  It was purposefully made narrow for two reasons.  First we were concerned that my books would really weigh a lot and over time put too much stress on the shelves (which is why they are thick and not simple sheets of something).  Second, as it was a custom job it was made to fit exactly in the space I had at the time.

All in all, don't think I do too badly in keeping things organized.  I actually enjoy organizing things and think others may agree somewhat with this.  Wonder if I could make this into a business?

Day Two: Skill +1UP

Can't say that I have challenged myself greatly in the past year until recently.  Last fall I took a moebius cowl with beads and a separate beading class that went over the different methods and when you would most likely want to use each method.  So far this year I have taken a drop spindle class and sweater design class.  On Tuesday, I'm taking a lace class and in a couple of weeks all of the Sally Melville classes.   Up until these classes probably the last time I took an official class was the toe up sock class.  Guess I'm making up for lost time?


To review some of my prior projects that were difficult.  

• I did an entrelac shawl and found several more entrelac projects I would like to do.  Though the next entrelac project, I will try my hand at reverse knitting (as opposed to turning the work back and forth constantly).  
• Currently working on two different cable projects (Every Way Wrap and sweater design class project).  Let me tell you knitting one day on one cable project and then the next switching to the other can confuse your mind!  Almost started doing the shawl cabling on the sweater.
• Two toe up socks at the same time.  Enjoyed how once you finished, you were done.  Only downfalls were having the two strands of yarn going at the same time and them twisting up and depending on how you worked your yarn, you either work from the center and the outside or guestimate where half of the skein would be and hope that you come up somewhat even.
• Have a pair of double knit mittens on the needles and I really would like to finish for next winter to give to Mom. Then I can start my own double knit mittens and have toasty warm fingers!
• The mobius cowl had a very interesting cast on (look up the Cat Bordhi moebius cast-on on Youtube) and definitely would like to do more of these.  Thinking would make a great gift for friends and family.

Goals for techniques/projects I would like to do in the next year are: 

1. Steeking
2. Fair Isle
3. Intarsia
4. Knit backwards
5. Master Norwegian purl
6. Tunisian crochet - did some long time ago see pumpkin mat from crafting retreat weekend

If I give a try at all of these techniques this year I will be doing very well indeed.  What sort of projects would you like to try this year?

Day One: A Tale of Two Yarns

Today's topic is pick two yarns that I have either used or are in my stash or which I yearn after and capture what it is I love or loathe about them.


This one is rather easy. I loath single ply yarns due to the fact that at lower weights (lower meaning anything below a super bulky) I tug, pull, whatever on the yarn too tightly and end up pulling it apart which causes excessive end weaving at the end of the project. The exception to this would have to be super bulky yarn that I knitted my green jacket with. That stuff was awesome! Lets hear it for Cascade Magnum!!


There are many yarns that I love but in the process of organizing my stash this past weekend, I realized that I have 3 skeins of Malabrigo and Prism that have very similar shading of purples with hints of green (note just a hint of green not primarily green) that I had purchased at 3 different shops/venues since November. What drew me to all of them was the colors and how incredibly soft the yarn is. 


To put it succinctly, what I love about a particular yarn is the color and then how it feels.  I have found that I have become a very tactile person both with fibers and with most things in life.  Wonder if this is true for all people who work with fiber and various other mediums?  


Until tomorrow...

Two Posts in One Day!!

Just before shutting down the computer checked the other blogs I read and Renee had a post about Knitting & Crochet Blog Week.  She got this from Eskimimi Knits.
I'm game for a challenge (maybe it will improve my skills).  My cousin Rachel is now on year 2 of a photo a day.  She has some really unique and creative photos that I use for my screen saver at work.  Anyway here are the details....


Day One: Monday, 28th March. A Tale of Two Yarns

Part of any fiber enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

Tips: It is a good idea, if possible, to choose a yarn that you adore and a yarn that just didn’t work for you. You do not need to be critical of any yarn if you do not feel comfortable in doing so, but perhaps you came to realize that one yarn wasn’t suitable for a particular project, if possible you could blog about what you have come to learn about choosing the right yarn, or your love of experimenting with fibers.

Day Two: Tuesday, 29th March. Skill + 1UP
Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Tips: Don’t be abashed at admitting your own skill and progress. If possible, include pictures of projects that you gained new skills from.

Day Three: Wednesday, 30th March. Tidy mind, tidy stitches
How do you keep your yarn wrangling organized? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organization exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organized at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organized, blog about an aspect of that organization process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organized stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

Tips: Many people use their blogs partly as an organizational tool – logging and cataloging projects and newly attained skills, projects and modifications. Did you bare this in mind when you began blogging?

Day Four: Thursday, 31st March. Where are they now?
Whatever happened to your __________?
Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently completed, new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.

How has one of your past knits lived up to wear. Maybe an item has become lost. Maybe you spent weeks knitting your giant-footed dad a pair of socks in bright pink and green stripes which the then ‘lost’. If you have knit items to donate to a good cause, you could reflect on the was in which you hope that item is still doing good for it’s owner or the cause it was made to support.

Tips: This topic is similar to one we used for the first Knitting and Crochet blog week. This is purposeful and is intended to help the blogger to reflect on past items and refer back to previous posts and projects once in a while.

Day Five: Friday, 1st April. And now for something completely different
This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.

There are no rules of a topic to blog about (though some suggestions are given below) but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog. This can take one of many forms, but here a few suggestions:

• Wordless, photographic post
• Video blog post
• Podcast
• Cartoon/sketch of an idea
• Write about a subject from a different perspective (for example, you could write about a day in the life of a knitted sock from the point of view of the sock).
• Interpretive modern dance (why does someone always suggest this?
• A poem or piece of rhyming verse
• Stop motion animation

Tips: The actual subject matter of the post might be quite dependent on the media method(s) you choose to use and as such there is no specific ‘topic’ to blog on. You could blog about a recently completed project, a knitting experience, a trip to the LYS or anything else that takes your fancy. The point behind this post is to get people thinking about using their blogs in different ways and pushing he boundaries of what they use their blogging platform for.

PS: Yes, it is April Fool’s Day, so have fun with the post.

Day six: Saturday, 2nd April. Something to aspire to
Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make bu can admire the result of those that have.

Tips: If you think you have learned all you ever want to in your craft then say so. Maybe you have been knitting for nearly 30 years and yet never learned to purl (many my think this is impossible, but I met a woman on the bus who told me exactly this once… Maybe she was following the E. Zimmerman school of thought to closely?).

Day seven: Sunday, 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time
Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

Tips: Last year we had a topic asking about the actual location of where you knit or craft, this is similar but not the same. Try and concentrate on all of the little aspects that make up your knitting time. Maybe you always head for for your Flaming Lips CD when taking on simple knitting but prefer a bit of Brahms when tackling more intricate work, or maybe you enjoy knitting with audiobooks or complete silence. Perhaps your crochet time is never complete without a cuddle from Tiddles the cat.

If you find yourself stumped by or otherwise unsuited to one of the above topics during Knitting and crochet blog week, you can choose to play the wild card.This alternative topic is provided to ensure that the blogger does not get stuck frustrated by blogging about something which is not appropriate to them.

Wildcard – Embellish the story
Embellishments come in all types and forms. Some are more than purely decorative and form a practical function – pretty buttons are as much part of holding a garment together as mere decoration, and some are just there to give a piece an extra ‘something’. Blog about an embellishment, be it a zipper, amigurumi eyes or applique patch which you are either saving to use or have in the past used to decorate a project with. Write about whether you are a very  minimalist kind of knitter with classic lines and timeless plain knits or whether you love all the bells and whistles or sticking sewing and otherwise attaching decoration to your pieces.

Use these topics and brief descriptions as a springboard for your posts and take them in whatever direction you fancy. If you are a Ravelry member and fancy chatting about what others are going to do to take part, then feel free to pop along to the Blog Hub group and find out what other folks are up to, or if you have any comments or questions please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below and I will be sure to get back to you ASAP.  Eskimimiknits

Updates

Since I last wrote, still haven't completed my brother and sister-in-law's hats but I have made progress on the sweater design class project (will try to get photo loaded next week).  Have to switch out the bag I keep it in as the current bag is getting crowded (made for smaller projects) and the sweater is my take every where project (probably the only good thing about living outside of a commuter bus area).  With the two swatches I did for this project, I decided to make all my swatches bigger and when have an adequate amount will make an afghan out of them.

In February, took a drop spindle class.  While I'm not ready to change my name to Spinasnoopy, think I could become addicted, but time will tell.  *Note to self see if can take a spinning (wheel) class at Sheep and Wool along with weaving class*.  Completed everything except weaving in the ties for hat I made for my first cousin once removed and FINALLY completed green afghan that Rosie is lying on or barely seen on bed below.

This weekend has been very productive organizationally.  Reorganized my yarn and while it is not all off of the floor (which has been my goal since inception of this blog and made more difficult by my ability to purchase yarns faster than I knit), I do feel better about where things are stashed.  Had an "a-ha!" moment when sitting on the floor Friday night.  I had taken the yarn out from underneath the day bed and was sorting out alpaca, super wash wool and hand wash, and lamenting over the fact that all my pretty Malabrigo, Koigu, Prism, etc was in the Piggly Wiggly bags (lime green bags in photo) and others that I use more often couldn't be seen/were difficult to get to.  I had just finished sorting things out and was cramming the bags back underneath the bed and looked up toward the open closet door and saw all of the acrylic and cotton yarns.  After so many years, it came to me, put these yarns under the bed and move the closet yarn to the chest and spill overs underneath the bed.  

Since it was rather late when this moment struck, reorganization had to wait till Saturday.  Knitting/crochet books also fell victim to reorganization, with the ones less frequently used (afghan/blanket books) moved to hallway bookshelf.

And yes, I actually did get some knitting done this weekend.  Have completed almost one repeat on green Every Way Wrap.  Taking me to almost having 11 of 16 repeats completed.  I so want to start another project but have way to many ongoing.  Have resolved that in 2011, I will:

1. Always have one afghan in the works (so I can use up the acrylic yarn).  No problem on this! Currently have two in the works, a flag and a whale intarsia along with the yo-yo afghan.  The yo-yo is going to take forever since it calls for a gazillion squares.
2. Weave in ends of projects for 1 hour each week.  This was how I managed to complete the green star afghan and have a feeling this is the only way the pumpkin mat will get done by end of September.
3. No purchasing e-books (which take time away from knitting and other crafts), until.... have to figure out what this part will be.  Probably some sort of reward for completing X number of projects whether it be knitting, crochet, beading, sewing, etc.  
4. Listen to books/participate in knit-alongs.  There are several groups on Ravelry that have interesting concepts (one is the project will always take 220 yards or less of yarn).  The 220 yard one will satisfy my wanting to start new projects, use my pretty yarns AND have gifts ready for Christmas or other occasions and the read-alongs will take care of the back log of started projects. 

Enough blogging for this week.  Now back to knitting for another hour or so.  

Knitting tips

Have been busy working on Christmas presents; was only making a pair of socks for my cousin and for my brother and his wife, who spent Christmas down here, a market bag (class I was taking from Cat and Crow) and two hats (was thinking it would be good for cold days at farmers market).

Completed one of Linda's socks when it became obvious that I could complete her socks and have nothing for Donny and M or put the sock aside and work on their presents, which is what I choose to do.

Finished the market bag Christmas Eve and then cast on first of the two hats for them. Gave them the bag, started hat (now known as Hat 1.0) and ball of yarn ear tagged for Hat 2.0. I was very confident that I could finish the hats before they headed back home. Have the impression that they were not surprised that their gift wasn't done and didn't seem all that receptive to any of their gifts.

It is now December 26th and so far I have made two hats but one only slightly wearable. Due to a nasty thing called gauge, Hat 1.0 was incredibly tight. This was ripped out Christmas day and redone on larger needles but Hat 1.2 was only slightly wearable. By slightly wearable, this means you can't have a big noggin' like my brother and I have. As the hat fit my sister-in-law's daughter, she is now the proud owner of a brown cabled alpaca hat. Hat 1.3 (formally the yarn for Hat 2.0) is cast on with a two-tone yarn that really does nothing for the cables so I'm thinking of ripping this out and redoing this in a plain ribbing. Will have to go through stash and see if I have a yarn that will compliment it to make Hat 2.0.

Once Hat 1.3 and 2.0 are done, they will be mailed up to Donny and M along with a game Mom Gave to them. Mom had purchased the game at a local store but the deck was all messed up by the manufacturer. Completing the hats and getting them mailed out soon is a matter of principle even though I'm pretty sure they could care less about receiving them.

Here are my Christmas knitting tips (most of these you have probably heard):
1. The deadline should not be a surprise (but somehow it always is). Plan early and get the projects done well in advance. Umm this one will happen for me only in some alternate reality.
2. Gauge is important. I hate to do this and I'm constantly amazed that this is such a shock when things don't work out!
3. No surprises. Ask people what they would like made, but do not be afraid to give limits (do you want to make something ultra complicated that you detest?).
4. Make sure the recipient is either knit worthy or knit worthy for what you are making. There are some knitter's who will not make gifts for people as they know recipients do not appreciate the hard work that was put into their gift.

Have a general knitting tip that for me is a major breakthrough. Always hate that I can't look at my knitting and tell which row of a repeat I'm on. My "discovery" is stitch markers!

At the begining of row 1 of repeat (for instance on a hat), do the first stitch of row 1 and place a stitch marker (for me any color except green as that is my knitting on one circular beginning of the round color); complete row. If working in the round, on row 2, do 1st stitch, remove marker, do the next stitch and place marker. There are now 2 stitches to the right of the marker. Keep moving the stitch marker in this manner at the beginning of the round. When on last repeat, do not place the marker (so its handy for row 1). Now if I put the knitting down (or if I'm having a strawberry blond moment and can't remember what row I'm on midway through the round) I can tell at a glance what row I'm on.

Haven't quite figured out what I'll do if knitting something flat but my thought is to have the marker at the beginning of the row on the right side. Can easily tell the right from wrong side, usually. If I can't, I place a stitch marker that can be clipped onto the right side. I use clip on markers to indicate how many repeats have been done. On the Every Way Wrap, there are a series of markers climbing up the right side showing my progress.

Class

Tonight was part one of the Market Bag class in Mt. Horeb. I got late out from work/traffic was slow getting out of Madison. Called Rebecca, one of the store owners, and she said no problem as I was the only one signed up for class. Quick stop to Culvers for supper (love the snack packs!) and then onto The Cat and Crow. Quickly picked out yarn and while I ate supper, Rebecca started winding the yarn for me. Apparently linen yarn is cantankerous and was rather reluctant to be wound.

She was still working on winding the yarn by the time I finished (no I didn't inhale my food). We both worked on unraveling things with Rebecca helping customers from time to time. Eventually got the yarn wound and cast on but didn't get too far due to above mentioned details and the fact that was having a good time talking with another lady who came to knit and sharing some recipes.

Guess Rebecca was feeling rather bad about the yarn winding as she gave me some left over linen yarn she had in the green I wanted to buy/use for the band and strap (or could it be she dreaded winding more of the linen yarn?). She also gave me a break on the class price so that was a nice surprise!

Speaking of classes, have signed up for all five of the Sally Melville classes in April at Woodland Studios (credit card is feeling the pain of that one) and really would like to sign up (and did sign up) for classes at The Cat and Crow. First is a drop spindle class and next is a sweater design class. Found a childs sweater in the Interweave magazine that was oh so conveniently sitting on coffee table where we were knitting tonight that will be my sweater design project. More on that later. If the sign up sheet would have been ready tonight for the two color knitting classes, would have signed up for that as well. Knowing me, next week when I go back for part two of MB class, there will be one more student in this class as well.

Hmmm there was also the photography class at The Cat and Crow...

Wildflower progress

Sunday I finished sock one of my cousin's Wildflower sock all the way to kitchnering the toe. Before weaving in the ends, I wanted to try it out. It was so unbelievably tight that I ripped the entire thing out. Granted my cousin probably doesn't have the cankles that I do, but I think it would have been too tight even for my Mom (who I use as a too-tight gauge for hand knit socks).

My reasons for being so confident on this is that 1) I used a smaller needle than usual (2.25 mm), 2) cast on 64 stitches and typical sock for me is 72, 3) leg of sock was longer than my typical leg (which if you have any sort of calf on your leg this would strangle your poor calf), and 4) most importantly, my cousin had tried on socks that I was knitting during our vacation and they fit her fine.

Casted on attempt #2, sunday night and completed two repeats during knitting guild meeting last night. Would have completed more but Lily wanted to see how the flower was created. Plus sometimes your listening more to the speakers than "concentrating" on your mindless knitting.

Have a knitting class tonight which is to be my sister-in-law's Christmas present which will cut down on sock knitting time. Good thing I have Friday off if the socks need to be mailed off by Saturday!

So far today...

Have legal/personal holiday leave to use before the end of the year or I can give it back to the State (so not happening!).  So far today, I've slept in til 9 (if one ignores having your dog wake you up at 3:30 and 6:30 to go outside as sleeping in), a load of laundry, showered, made lunch, deliberated as to whether or not use the emergency only credit card to purchase clothes online (so far I'm resisting), worked a little on my cousin's socks that need to be finished by next Saturday so she gets them by Christmas, and in a bit going to Stoughton to watch the latest Harry Potter movie.

Still have my Aunt's shawl on the needles and ridiculously close to being done with this project, have various other projects that either need ends woven in and/or doing the bind off.  In particular, need to finish binding off the cowl (last class I took) since I will be taking a class next week for a French Market bag.  Need to stop procrastinating and get a move on!

A Little Christmas Shopping (for me)

Went to two craft shows today.  The number of vendors at both were small but did manage to find a few things for inspiration to either duplicate or presents for myself.

Christmas Shopping...
At the first show, bought some stamped cards that had interesting design to them that I plan to use on cards for me to make some Christmas stocking stuffer that I will duplicate (small Hershey candy wrapped in decorative scrapbook paper, gingerbread person made out of a round circle covering a peppermint patty, snowman soup etc).

Christmas Shopping (for me)...
The second show didn't have as many vendors as past years that I've gone to it, but there was a couple who had yarn (Forest Academy Alpacas)  Bought a lovely skein of black and white that was plied together and then a skein plied together in the same fashion but the colors this time are black/white/mauve.  Also purchased from them was 4.2 oz of natural black cria fleece.

Have a slight dilemma now, do I keep the fleece for myself (have a drop spindle and have been thinking about learning how to use) or gift it to one of the spinners I know?  What do you think I should do???

Another great idea, NOT!

So remember last week where I goofed up the mindless knitting project because I was paying more attention to the cute guys working on the broken water main?  Well don't think this happened at the same time but it was probably close to it.

On the shawl, there are three different hand-dyed yarns all in the same colorway.  Well apparently I forgot which color was next because the last time I switched colors, I joined the wrong one.  After a little debate, decided to rip it out because even though it is a gift and I won't see it, will bug me to know that it is there.  So I ripped it out and when I got close to the join, this is where it went really really bad.

When I had joined the wrong color, I had ended the row prematurely as well so had to add more yarn for a very brief moment.  Then in a fit of efficiency (and because I had messed up my increases/SSKs and was a stitch short which left a hole at the join), I wove in 90% of the ends starting with the big hole (the hole was closed beautifully thank you very much) and had a difficult time finding the ends.

Eventually found the ends, started unraveling more than I needed and lets just say that it is better to do things like this when you are not tired and had a bit of time to sit back and study the situation and not just unravel willy-nilly.  Was going to finish the pink section (right side of picture) last night but was so danged tired and a little frustrated with myself, that I went to bed and was asleep about 10 seconds after I laid down.

Should have taken a picture last night but this afternoon when I took a picture, it actually helped me see what I need to do.  Complete the pink section I'm on, pickup stitches along the orange side so it is joined and should be good to go to start with the correct color, I think (hope).

Time will tell.

Lost in translation

Yesterday I somehow screwed up half a row on my mindless knitting project, the multidirectional shawl by switching from garter stitch to stockinette.  

I was sitting outside on the porch"knitting" while watching the cute guys working on the water main that started bubbling up like a fountain in the street almost in front of my home.  Just before Mom came out to see how things were progressing with the guys (she wanted to shower and they had turned off the water in our area), I realized that I had switched for just part of a row to stockinette.  I was in the process of frogging it when she came out.  Somehow the story looses meaning if you have to explain stockinette vs. garter stitch...

And we have bind-off!

On my way to the moebius cowl class tonight, I stopped at World of Variety (local "dime" store) to see if they had the leaf bags like pumpkins for Mom.  They did, and I was strolling in the next aisle over to see what other fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations they had when I spied a Christmas decoration on the opposite side of the aisle that I just had to get.  I know, I know way to early for anything except Christmas gift making but when you see this I'm sure you will understand why I broke down and bought it.

Before class started, I was on row 7/8 and needed to get to 10.  Easily done, okay I was binding off as the other ladies were blissfully? doing the picot bind off with beads. Was undecided as to which one of two beads to go with so decided to use both as they go great with this yarn (and the moebius is rather colorful).  I did manage to finish the repeats and do about 8 picots (only 56 more to go).

When I'm done, there should be enough yarn left to make either mittens or fingerless mitts.  For the mittens, I would have to add another sock weight yarn to this thus making the mittens not too matchy-matchy with the moebius.  Mitts on the other hand (snicker) would match perfectly.  Hmm maybe I need to decide who these will be for?